


The Officer's Speech

by StarshipHufflebadger



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Anxiety, Comfort, F/M, Fear, Fluff, Gen, Public Speaking, Worry, confidence boosting, speech
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-20
Updated: 2018-11-20
Packaged: 2019-08-26 10:20:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16679779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarshipHufflebadger/pseuds/StarshipHufflebadger
Summary: You’re extremely nervous before having to teach a class and Bones tries to pump you up. (Gender neutral)





	The Officer's Speech

You pace back and forth in the hallway behind the lecture hall, your heart pounding in your chest, nausea rolling in your stomach.   You are due to present a full length lecture in the second year xenozoology class next period and you are extraordinarily nervous.  Though you are a Starfleet officer now, having recently graduated, you’ve never presented in front of a crowd this large before, and you’ve always had some stage fright.

            You continue to pace back and forth, wringing your hands and muttering your lecture to yourself, trying to make sure you remember everything.  You will have holographic images to aid you, but for the most part, your lesson is based on all the information swimming around in your mind. You stop pacing for a moment and try to take deep breaths, but they are shaky and shallow as you realize you’re panicking more than a little.  


               Suddenly a pair of strong, warm hands descend gently on your shoulders and you gasp, whirling around on the spot to see Leonard standing behind you, looking amused.  When he sees the distraught look on your face, his expression turns to one of concern.

               “You’re going to be fine,” he tells you firmly, squeezing your shoulders reassuringly.  You shake your head, not trusting yourself to speak, and he can see that you’re trembling. He pulls you close and wraps his arms protectively around you, and you relax a little in his grip.  You rest your head on his chest, feeling the warmth of his body seep into you, and you sigh shakily.  
  
               “I’m just so nervous… three hundred people, Leonard!” you say into his chest, your voice trembling slightly.  You push back from him just enough so you can look up at his face.  “What if I mess up?  Everyone will see it and I’ll be shamed out of my discipline!”  You’re aware somewhere in the back of your head that you’re overreacting, but logic is not currently at the forefront of your mind. Leonard chuckles softly and reaches out to stroke your hair, shaking his head.  
  
               “Oh come on, you know that won’t happen,” he tells you.  “When you did the lecture for me last night it was absolutely perfect.  You actually made me care about the conservation of the shallots, or whatever they’re called.”

               “Sehlats,” you correct him, shaking your head with a rueful smile at his intentional mispronunciation. “And that was just for you.  You’re not three hundred people, plus several professors,” you say, wringing your hands.

               “Still,” he says insistently, “I know you will do great.”   You sigh shakily and try to take his words to heart, but you’re still shaking a bit.  He can tell you don’t really believe him, so he grips your shoulders again, then reaches up with one hand and turns your face to look at him, his fingers gently gripping your chin.     “You will be the expert in that room.  Not a single person in that room today has done more research on these particular beasts than you.  You own this topic, and you will conquer it.”

               You look up at the earnest expression on his face and smile, just a little, as you mull over his words.  It was true, you’d been doing extensive research for almost two years and knew more about the morphology, physiology and behaviours of sehlats than anyone in Starfleet except for the Vulcan zoologists, none of whom would be in attendance today (thankfully).  You take a deep breath and let it out slowly, and you notice it’s less shaky than before.

“I know you can do this.  I’ve seen you lecture small classes, and I know you were nervous but it didn’t show.  At all.” Leonard squeezes your shoulder reassuringly again and you nod, smiling a bit more normally now as the anxiety starts to fade.   “There you go.” He smiles as you visibly relax a bit, leaning down and kissing your forehead.  You sigh, though this time it’s more of a bracing sigh than an anxious one.    
  
               The door to the lecture hall opens and students in the current class begin to file out, talking loudly, oblivious to the two of you standing nearby. You swallow thickly, adjusting your Sciences blue tunic, glancing down at your slacks, making sure they’re free of dust and still sharply creased.  
  
               “You look wonderful,” he tells you, his voice soft.  “And very scholarly.”   You laugh softly, shaking your head.

               “It’s just my normal uniform,” you say, but he shrugs.

               “Yes, and you look very science-y,” he says.  “Besides, we match.  I like that.” He plucks at his own blue tunic, and you smile.  You like it too.  You were never sorry to ditch the uncomfortable red cadet uniforms, after all.

               “Alright.  I need to go in and get ready,” you say, taking another deep breath.  He gives you another hug, a kiss on the forehead, and then gently tweaks your chin with his forefinger and thumb.  

               “You’ll do amazing,” he says, very firmly.  “I will be right in the middle of the audience, so if you get nervous, find me and talk to ME.  Okay?”

               “Okay,” you agree, smiling gratefully at him.  He winks and then turns, entering the classroom before you. You know he wants to get the perfect seat in the centre of the room, so you can see each other perfectly.  You take a few more deep breaths, shaking out your hands, which are tingling from you clenching them so hard.   _You can do this_ , you tell yourself.  Finally, after one more moment, you square your shoulders and walk into the lecture hall, standing tall and trying to seem unafraid.  

               You sync the projector system with your comm and watch the small screen at the side of the room as it loads your images, ready to be relayed to the holographic projector in the centre of the semi-circular lecture theatre.  You can hear chatter all around you as students enter the room and you take a couple more deep breaths, whispering the introduction of your presentation to yourself. You finally look up at the crowd and see students everywhere, milling about and scrambling for seats, talking and laughing, taking tablets out of bags for note-taking.  You scan the audience for familiar faces and spot a few people near the front that were in a smaller class that you spoke to the previous year.  They smile and wave at you, and you smile back, trying to shush your racing thoughts.

               Your eyes move more frantically over the crowd until, as people begin sitting down, you see a spot of blue in the sea of red cadet uniforms. There he is, sitting exactly in the centre seat of the centre row of the middle section of the theatre, looking around, a single eyebrow quirked at some conversation going on near him that you can’t hear.  

               You nervously clutch the tiny button that controls the projected images in your hand as you look up at the crowd.  Within another minute or two, everyone has been seated and it’s time for class to begin.   The professor that normally teaches the class introduces you, and as you step forward, you feel hundreds of eyes settling on you.

               “Uh, hi-” you choke out, your voice faltering as the fear briefly overwhelms you.  You clear your throat, feeling your heart pounding in your ears, and quickly locate Leonard.  He smiles reassuringly, giving you a wink and a thumbs up, and you smile back.  You take a deep breath, and try again.  
  
               “Hello,” you say, and introduce yourself.  As you speak, your voice becomes a little stronger, and by the time you’ve finished telling them your credentials, your hands have stopped shaking. “I’m here today to talk to you about non-invasive hormonal controls as a method to increase reproduction of the last of the sehlats left in captivity.”   You press the small button in your hand and a life size holographic image of the bear-like animal appears at your side.  You take one last look at Leonard, take one last deep breath, and then launch into your lecture.  You can still feel your heart pounding, but it’s manageable now, and you let your passion and your confidence in your research shine through.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment if you like! I love to read your feedback! :)


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